Insulation-removing pliers

ABSTRACT

A hand tool primarily for use with electrical wiring which combines into one tool all the necessary tools normally required when removing insulation from an electrical wire. The tool includes upper and lower jaws, both of which contain several cutting elements, and an insulation-gripping element, the bottom jaw having a knife or splitter connected thereto for splitting electrical insulation.

United States Patent [191 Naquin INSULATION-REMOVING PLIERS [76] Inventor: Joseph H. Naquin, 436 Belleville St.,

New Orleans, La. 70114 [22] Filed: Sept. 20, 1973 21 Appl, No.: 399,178

[52] US. Cl 7/5.4; 8l/9.5 R; 30/90.6 [51] Int. Cl. B25b 7/22; H02g 1/12 [58] Field of Search 81/9.5 R; 7/5.4, 5.5, 5.1,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,051,921 2/1913 Schlehr 81/418 1,388,398 8/1921 1,469,696 10/1923 2,280,463 4/1942 Williamson 30/153 X [4 1 Sept. 2, 1975 2,730,800 l/1956 Bailey 30/153 X 3,151,509 10/1964 Goemley 8l/9.5 R

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,205,046 9/1961 Germany 30/153 Primary Examiner-James L. Jones, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or FirmRay & Spielman [5 7] ABSTRACT A hand tool primarily for use with electrical wiring which combines into one tool all the necessary tools normally required when removing insulation from an electrical wire. The tool includes upper and lower jaws, both of which contain several cutting elements, and an insulation-gripping element, the bottom jaw having a knife or splitter connected thereto for splitting electrical insulation.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTED 2975 3.902.206

sum 1 0f 2 PATENTEDSEP z rs 3.902.206

SHEET 2 OF 2 INSULATION-REMOVING PLIERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to hand tools in genera], and in particular to a combination tool for performing all the various operations required when stripping insulation from electrical wiring. The invention is particularly useful in removing insulation from large electrical cables which contain many individual electrical wires twisted together.

Various devices for gripping, pulling, bending, crimping, cutting and stripping electrical wiring are known in the art. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,778,255; 3,447,172; 2,400,177; 669,556; 1,388,398; 2,940,343; 3,151,509 and 3,654,647. However, none of the devices known in the art have the combination of novel features and advantages of the insulation-removing tool of the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided an insulation-removing tool including plier handles having an upper and lower jaw connected thereto, both of said jaws having cutting elements and insulation peeling means, the lowerjaw having an insulation knife or slitter connected thereto.

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side plan view of the invention with the slitter shield open and the jaws open;

FIG. 3 is a side plan view of the invention with both jaws closed and the slitter shield closed;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the invention closed about a cable;

FIG. 5 is a partly cut away perspective view of the invention splitting the insulation on a cable;

FIG. 6 is a partly cut away perspective view of the invention removing insulation from a cable; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along lines 77 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the tool of the present invention can be seen to include two plier handles l010 which pivot about pivot pin 11. One of the handles 10-10 is rigidly connected to upper jaw 12 and the other handle is rigidly connected to lower jaw 13. When handles 10l0 are spread apart, the jaws open, as shown in FIG. 2, and when the handles 10-10 are closed, the jaws close, as indicated in FIG. 3. Upperjaw 12 and lower jaw 13 contain cutting elements 18, 19, and in addition to insulation grippers 21. Each of the cutting elements l8, l9, and 20 are identical in configuration, the only difference being one of diameter.

Cutting element 18 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 7. Cutting element 18 contains cutting recess and cutting edge 26. Cutting edge 26 can be seen to be beveled to a sharp edge while cutting recess 25 is approximately parallel to the outer edges 22 and 23 ofjaws 12 and 13, respectively. Also shown in FIG. 7 are dotted lines indicating insulation grippers 21. Insulation grippers 21 merely comprise a recessed portion in jaws 12 and 13 which facilitate the gripping ofinsulation shielding an electrical wire or cable.

Located on lower jaw 13 is slitter 14 which is merely a knife blade connected tojaw 13 by screwing, welding, or the like. Slitter 14 is located in recessed portion 14a of lower jaw 13 and is covered by a slitter shield 15 which pivots about pin 16. Shield 15 locks in place by engaging snap 17 when closed. Shield 15, shown in the open position in FIG. 2 and in the closed position in FIG. 3, protects slitter 14 from being dulled by contacting metal objects, for instance, and also protects the user of the tool from being cut by the slitter.

In FIG. 3 it can be seen that the center line of the cutting elements is not parallel to the center line of the handles of the pliers. This is a very important feature, since it makes the tool of the present invention much more easy to operate than pliers which have the center line of the cutting elements in direct alignment with the center line of the plier handles 10. Angle A indicated in FIG. 1 may vary from about 15 to about 35, or more preferably from about 22 to about 25.

The manner in which the tool of the present invention is used to remove insulation is shown in FIGS. 4-6. As shown in FIGS. 4-6, two rings 32-32 are first cut in insulation 31 covering cable 30 by closing cutting element 19 about the insulation and turning the cutting element about cable 30, if necessary. Next, slitter shield 15 is opened, the pliers are inverted and a slit 33 is cut in insulation 31, as shown in FIG. 5, by running slitter 14 longitudinally between the two rings 32 in cable 30. The slitter shield 15 is then closed over slitter 14, the jaws 12 and 13 of the pliers are opened and the insulation 31 is gripped with insulation peeler 21 and pulled from cable 30, as shown in FIG. 6.

The tool of the present invention is made from any suitable well known metal such as steel alloys, aluminum alloys, and the like. The handles l0l0 of the tool may preferably be covered with an insulator such as plastic, or the like.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed for the purpose of illustration, it will be understood that various changes, modifications, and substitutions may be incorporated in such embodiment within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit of the invention as illustrated and described in the claims herein.

What is claimed is:

l. A hand tool used for removing insulation from electrical wiring comprising:

a. a pair of upper and lower jaws rigidly connected to plier handles, said upper and said lower jaw being pivotally connected for movement about a pivot axis in scissor-like relation, the centerline of said upper jaw means and said lower jaw means forming an angle with the centerline of the handles of said tool which varies from about 15 to about 35, said upper and said lower jaw including a plurality of opposed cutting element means, said cutting element means including a plurality of opposed, complemental arcuate recesses in said upper and said lower jaw means cooperative to define cutting element openings reducible in size upon closure of said plier handles, said cutting element openings containing cutting means and cutting recess means, said cutting means being beveled to a sharp edge while the cutting recess means is approximately parallel to the outer edges of said upper and said lower jaws,

. insulation peeling means located at the end of said upper and said lower jaw means, and

, insulation slitting means located on said lower jaw means, said insulation slitting means comprising a knife blade means connected to said lower jaw means, the edge of said knife blade means being disposed in a direction generally perpendicular to 3 4 the plane defined by said centerline of said upper means comprises two opposed, complemental arcuate and sald lower Jaws Sald Shmng means having recesses at the extreme ends of said upper and lower otal shield means connected to said lower jaw means for covering said knife blade means. 2. The tool of claim 1 wherein said insulation peeling 5 jaws. 

1. A hand tool used for removing insulation from electrical wiring comprising: a. a pair of upper and lower jaws rigidly connected to plier handles, said upper and said lower jaw being pivotally connected for movement about a pivot axis in scissor-like relation, the centerline of said upper jaw means and said lower jaw means forming an angle with the centerline of the handles of said tool which varies from about 15* to about 35*, said upper and said lower jaw including a plurality of opposed cutting element means, said cutting element means including a plurality of opposed, complemental arcuate recesses in said upper and said lower jaw means cooperative to define cutting element openings reducible in size upon closure of said plier handles, said cutting element openings containing cutting means and cutting recess means, said cutting means being beveled to a sharp edge while the cutting recess means is approximately parallel to the outer edges of said upper and said lower jaws, b. insulation peeling means located at the end of said upper and said lower jaw means, and c. insulation slitting means located on said lower jaw means, said insulation slitting means comprising a knife blade means connected to said lower jaw means, the edge of said knife blade means being disposed in a direction generally perpendicular to the plane defined by said centerline of said upper and said lower jaws, said slitting means having pivotal shield means connected to said lower jaw means for covering said knife blade means.
 2. The tool of claIm 1 wherein said insulation peeling means comprises two opposed, complemental arcuate recesses at the extreme ends of said upper and lower jaws. 